2 years ago today, a legend of not only sports, but popular culture around the globe had his life tragically cut short in a helicopter crash. That said life, along with 8 others, were lost in a moment that temporarily made the world stop.

Kobe Bryant had died. He was only 41 years old.

I remember that day like it was yesterday.

My Special Olympics Basketball team was beginning our first tournament of the year, just as his death was first being reported. During my first game, I was sitting on the bench. Behind me, I heard someone in the audience say that someone died in a helicopter crash. I shrugged it off and kept playing. My team won both games we played, but in the end, it didn't matter.

My mom and I were driving home a few hours later when she broke the news to me. I still remember how I reacted.

"Wait...KOBE?! Are you serious?!" I exclaimed in horror.

My mom showed me the news article when we stopped for gas, and she wasn't lying. The first articles were flooding my phone. My Instagram was flooded with Kobe tributes. The whole day felt...off and upsetting to me.

Two days later, I went to a Milwaukee Bucks game with my basketball teammates, and there was a tribute before the game. Many fans from both teams wore Kobe jerseys, and after the game, fans of all ages chanted his name as we left the stadium.

It was so surreal.

As a basketball fan, I was devastated. Even though I wasn't a fan of the Lakers, I still appreciated Kobe's greatness and the contributions he gave to the game of basketball and sports in general.

As an athlete, Kobe had more drive and determination than anyone on the court, to the point of being labeled a psychopath. He had a psyche called "Mamba Mentality", and it gave him an edge that rivals Michael Jordan. He was never the greatest all around athlete, but he was incredible in his own right. He would never give up in the face of adversity and his dedication to the game yielded 5 NBA titles.

He was a generational icon and inspired millions, if not hundreds of millions around the world to simply shoot a basketball, competitively or casually. Every time someone shoots a crumpled up paper into a wastebasket, they say Kobe's name. The impact of Kobe on sports fans is undeniable, and he will always be remembered.

Even though the world seems to have recovered from this loss from two years ago, it is still shocking and depressing, even to this day to millions of fans.

I know that almost none of you guys give two shits about sports, and that's ok. But Kobe Bryant means a lot to me. So, I made a tribute story in his memory.

RIP KOBE BRYANT

1978-2020

mamba mentality

written January 12th to January 21st, 2022

January 26th, 2020. 10 AM

It was a surprisingly warm January day in Adventure Bay. It was 36 degrees, and the pups took advantage of it by playing basketball in the lookout's driveway that morning. Zuma felt off from the moment he woke up. He rose awake at 7:30 AM, earlier than what he usually did. He walked into the living room of the lookout, and was immediately shocked by what the news headline said on the TV. Ryder was up too, and even he had a somewhat sad look on his face. None of the other pups had woken up at that time, and the chocolate lab proceeded to walk back to his pup house. He walked in, shut the door and did something he rarely did: he cried. For almost 30 minutes. The loss was a big one to him. Someone that he truly admired and loved since he was a mere puppy was gone, way too soon to meet the maker. The other canines woke up at 9 AM (because Ryder let them sleep an extra hour on the weekends), and they all decided to play ball. The game was actually very competitive, with posterizing dunks, trash talk, egos being tested, ankle breakers and all in between. Zuma, Chase and Skye were on one team, with Marshall, Everest and Rubble on the other. Rocky kept track of the score and the time left on the clock. Zuma felt a lot of grief, but he kept it to himself, but not completely inside. He found his old #8 Kobe jersey and threw it onto himself. It was almost 2 decades old and was a bit big. But the jersey seemed to help him. The lab was the best basketball shooter, and he hit 7 threes. None of the pups knew why Zuma had the jersey on, and they never bothered to ask. The game was coming to a close, and the score was tied. There was only 5 seconds on the clock Rocky had left. There was one more chance for a shot left. Zuma had the hot paw (or hand, as humans call it), and Chase knew that passing it to the chocolate lab was his best bet.

"Ok, I'll pass it in. I'll throw it to Skye, then she'll throw it to you. Make sure you get open." instructed the german shepherd to the water rescue dog. He silently nodded as the three split up.

"I'll guard Chase. Everest, you get Skye. Rubble, you get Zuma." Rubble told his friends. All six canines were ready.

"Here we go! Clock starts now!" proclaimed Rocky as he started the clock at a moment's notice. The clock ticked down, as he recited the countdown loudly. Chase threw the ball to Skye. She received the ball, then chucked it to Zuma across the court in his favorite spot: behind the three point line on the left side.

Zuma then stood up on his hind legs and jumped. Rubble was coming up and trying to block his friend's shot, but it was too late.

"Kobe!" shouted the chocolate lab as he released the ball from his right paw. Just after the shot came out of Zuma's paws, the game clock expired. The ball seemed to fly in the air for the longest time. All eyes were on the orange ball as it began to sink from the heavens above. It fell…and fell…and fell…until a peculiar sound entered all the canine's ears.

Swish.

Nothing but net.

Zuma had done it. He beat the buzzer, and victory was his.

"OH MY GOD!" exclaimed Chase, Skye and Zuma as they ran into the front yard to celebrate the win.

"Now that's a finish!" smiled Rocky as he saw the madness of emotions unfold in front of him. One one side, joy. On the other, agony.

"You thought it was a good idea for me to guard him?" Rubble asked Marshall, catching his breath. The bulldog, dalmatian and husky were absolutely stunned. They thought that they would win.

"It's the size difference, man. Chase is super tall, and I just thought that you could guard him." explained Marshall.

"Yeah, Marshall. That was a brilliant decision you made." remarked Everest sarcastically, as the three watched their friends celebrating, whooping and hollering in the distance.

"I knew you had some of that stuff in you!" grinned the german shepherd, gazing at his friend's jersey and patting Zuma's back.

"There's only one guy who can make that shot. And that's you." agreed Skye as the trio had a group hug together.

"Yeah…I guess you could say that there was some…divine intervention." the lab said as he looked up at the cloudy sky above him. He looked up for almost 30 seconds, feeling the somber mood come back to him. Zuma walked back inside the lookout without saying a word to his friends, painting a mix of bittersweet emotion on his face. The others were completely perplexed. Normally, Zuma would have been at the top of the world, and he would have been pretty braggadocious and cocky if he made a game-winning shot. It was the complete opposite reaction they expected. They knew something was off. But they didn't know exactly what. At the same time, they saw many different kids assembling at the playground in the park a couple of miles away. They were all donning different basketball jerseys of different kinds, shooting basketballs in the unusually warm January morning. The pups then walked into the lookout, only to see Zuma looking at the TV in the living room. He was facing away from his pals. The pups slowly walked over to him and sat close to the chocolate lab.

"Are…are you ok, dude?" asked Chase in concern for his friend.

"I…I don't know how to say it…I can't say it." spoke Zuma, feeling his voice cracking slightly as the weight of what he saw earlier that morning hit him again. He grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. It was the news.

This is Hailey Daily reporting…I…I don't know how to say this. But the reports are true. Basketball icon Kobe Bryant…has died in a helicopter crash this morning in Los Angeles. He was only 41 years old. The reporter spoke. The newscast then switched to the actual footage of the remains of the crash. It was still burning.

The pups' jaws dropped in complete shock.

"WHAT?!" All of Zuma's friends gasped as the chocolate lab felt tears building in his eyes.

"No fucking way." Rubble shook his head.

"Kobe?! Are you serious?!" cried Marshall in horror.

"I…I can't…" stuttered Skye as she gazed upon the helicopter wreckage.

"Oh my God…" muttered Chase as he put his paws on his head. The canines stopped and stared in silence at the helicopter wreckage on the TV screen. The smoke was pluming into the air, and the fire was slowly burning away. All eyes turned to Zuma as he cried softly with his head in his palms.

"I saw this when I woke up..." sobbed the chocolate lab.

"Why didn't you tell us?" asked Everest.

"Because...well...you wouldn't have believed me." answered Zuma, not even daring to look up. For a minute, the chocolate lab

"There's…more to this…than you know." said Zuma, wiping his tears from his red-looking eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Skye.

"Did I ever tell you guys about…my life before I got to Adventure Bay?"

"Not really. Other than the several times that you said you came from Los Angeles." elaborated Rocky.

"What does your question relate to Kobe?" inquired Rubble.

"I'll get to it," said Zuma as he took a deep breath. "I was raised in a pet shop in the heart of Central Los Angeles. I have no memories of any parents of any kind, and I was basically an orphan. Anyways, I was very young, and my only exposure to the outside world was TV. The owner of the day care was a huge Lakers fan, so I got to see lots of Lakers games on the screen. I was only two or three years old, so my brain was just starting to develop. I was really intrigued by it all. Kobe was still playing at the time, and he was just amazing to watch. It was his last season as a player. I idolized Kobe at the time. He was one of the first humans, let alone athletes, that I recognized. When I was three, I was thinking of ditching the shop entirely, because nobody wanted to take me home. It was Kobe Bryant's final game, and I took this as my chance to escape. After days of planning, I got out of there when nobody was peeking." foretold Zuma.

"Sooo, what happened after that?" asked Rocky.

"I decided to go to Staples Center and actually watch the game for myself. In person." remembered the chocolate lab, feeling nostalgic memories and bittersweet feelings of his past.

"How did you even get in?!" gasped Chase.

"Well, let me explain. When I got out of the pet shop, I began walking down the streets of Los Angeles. They were something. I was walking down the boulevards and gazing at the tall buildings. It was so cool, man. I was walking past an alleyway when something caught my eye. It was an abandoned old basketball jersey. Kobe with the number 8. Which turned out to be the jersey I have today." bragged the water rescue dog.

"That's awesome, dude!" pointed out Marshall.

"After what seemed to be an eternity, which was almost 4 hours of just jumping on buses, I finally made it to Staples Center. And keep in mind, this is the very first time I saw LA outside of the pet shop window and television. I snuck past multiple security guards of all different areas of the stadium that night, and I got to sit in the stands all the way up at the top of the arena. I got to watch Kobe in person. You bet I was howling a lot. And you know why? Kobe Bryant, in his last game, dropped 60 points." grinned the chocolate lab as he remembered the crowd noise that night.

"Dude…I can't imagine being there that night…" remarked Marshall in awe.

"Yeah…it was something different. A few hours after the game, I stayed outside the arena entrance with a bunch of other fans. We saw the players leave the stadium and head onto the team bus. The last player that came out of the arena doors was Kobe Bryant himself. All of us were leaning on one of those metal barriers, and we were clamoring for his attention. He walked past several of us, and that was when I climbed up to the top of the metal barrier. I was so small back then. Kobe and I saw each other and made eye contact. It was unreal…I saw my idol with my own two eyes…up close…I still can't believe it myself…" mentioned Zuma as he felt tears building up in his eyes once again.

"You got to meet him?!" All of his friends blurted out in surprise.

"Yeah. He asked me who I was. I…introduced myself to him. I…I gotta show you guys something." spoke the chocolate lab as he hustled to his pup house. He got the items he wanted, and ran back inside the lookout.

"Kobe actually gave me the socks that he wore during the actual game." Zuma said as he showed them off. His friends were oohing and aahing at the said artifacts.

"It still smells sweaty…how did you preserve them?" asked Rubble as he and his pals sniffed the product.

"I kept them in a Ziploc bag." Zuma answered.

"You gotta keep those for the rest of your life, man. Damn." Chase told Zuma.

"And that isn't it…I…I actually had a photo taken with him." the chocolate lab added. He showed them a photo with himself and the basketball legend. It was an old-fashioned polaroid photo. In it, Zuma and his idol were staring at the camera, flashing wide grins. His friends couldn't believe their eyes.

"Wooooah, man…that's like the first time I've ever seen you that small." observed Rocky.

"You're lucky this one's framed, my dude." pointed out Chase.

"How did you not get this autographed..." wondered Marshall in disbelief.

"Kobe had to take care of business, and he couldn't stay long." sighed Zuma.

"This is literally unbelievable." remarked Skye.

"It's literally the only photo I have of my 'infancy puppy' phase, if you call it that." admitted the chocolate lab.

"What… happened after you got the picture?" inquired Everest.

"Well…Kobe was told by his agent that he had to attend a party, and Kobe had to leave. So, Kobe bent down to my eye level. He then told me…he told me some words that I won't ever forget…" spoke the lab as he felt a few hot tears cascade down his cheeks.

"What did he say?" asked the recycling dog, putting his arm around Zuma's shoulder.

"He said, 'Zuma…be legendary. Strive for greatness in life, and you will be rewarded.'". The water rescue dog stuttered as he remembered Kobe's deep voice while it echoed through his mind. He sat in silence for a moment, gazing into nothingness as the sun shone through the windows of the lookout tower and onto his friends. The chocolate lab couldn't take the emotional toll any longer. He wept quietly as Rocky embraced him. The other pups watched in concern and dismay as they saw Zuma letting go of his pent-up grief. He cried for at least 3 minutes before his best friend let go. "I used Kobe's words as motivation to go find a new life for myself. And I started looking for new jobs. A few days of looking, and nothing came to be. I was getting frustrated. Then, just before all my hope was lost, I found an advertisement. It was a poster, looking for a water rescue dog in the PAW Patrol across the country. I had nothing to lose. I went all the way to the LA's train station and jumped onto a trip thousands of miles away. I made my way to Adventure Bay and the rest is history." confessed Zuma.

"I…I still can't process this…at all…both Kobe's death and the fact that you actually got to know him." admitted Rubble softly.

"I feel you, man. It's a sad, sad day. I'm so lucky that I got to meet him. And I'll…I'll hold those moments for the rest of my life." stated the water rescue dog between sniffles.

"Just remember, Zuma…you're not alone. Some of us are sad, too, you know. Kobe's passing doesn't affect just you." Skye spoke up.

"I understand. But…I just wanna be alone today…you feel me? Thanks…" Zuma whispered to his pals as he trudged back slowly to his orange pup house. The canines looked at each other in confusion and sighed in remorse for their downcast comrade.

8 PM

The day was rather eventful, as dozens of kids and young adults played at the basketball court in the park. Dribbles, swishes, cheering and dunks were heard even as far as the lookout. But all had gone home hours earlier. It was quiet now, as the weather had slightly become a bit colder. The lab was outside in the lookout driveway. Using a light from the garage, Zuma was shooting free throws all by himself. All of the other pups were inside watching a movie, and none bothered the chocolate lab for the rest of the day as they respected his privacy. Ryder hadn't seen Zuma for a long while, and he heard the bouncing of the basketball as he took the garbage bins outside.

"What are you doing out here? It's only 32 degrees. And you can barely see." asked the boy in concern.

"I'm working on my free throws, man." answered the water rescue dog coldly. He didn't want to be bothered by anyone, as he was in the utmost concentration.

"Listen, Zuma…I understand how you feel. And I feel sorry for you over this whole Kobe thing." said Ryder as he walked over to him.

"You don't understand, Ryder. I met Kobe. Like, I got to talk to him personally. He was my idol. To…lose someone as valuable and important like he was to me…it just hurts." sighed the water rescue dog.

"I just hate seeing you that way, dude." Ryder spoke up as he picked up the basketball that Zuma was holding. He launched the ball straight at the basket from the free throw line-and missed. He then gazed at the lab, feeling a little smirk curl on his face. The wind was slightly picking up, as both felt the winter breeze on their skin. But the harsh climate they were enduring was the last thing on their minds.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" asked Zuma inquisitively as the boy ran over to fetch the basketball. He passed it back to the chocolate lab nonchalantly and his grin grew wider.

"Hey…you wanna play one on one?" asked Ryder.

"Wait…really? You…actually mean it?" smiled Zuma, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah. I don't really mind. I have nothing else to do." answered the boy. Zuma ran up to Ryder and jumped on him, licking his face several times as the boy laughed.

"You're the best human I could have ever asked for." whispered the water rescue dog.

"Anytime, Zuma. Anytime." replied Ryder warmly as he embraced his friend.

Jeez. That was a rough one for me to type. It was being developed in my head for about a year before I decided to publish it.

I'm also sad for another reason. The Green Bay Packers had the worst playoff loss I have ever seen against the 49ers. It was just a complete meltdown. By not only the special teams, but with Aaron Rodgers as well. It was a three hour nightmare that ended, but the consequences of that night will be even worse.

It's not 100% true right now, but it feels inevitable.

Aaron Rodgers is gonna be going to Denver. Davante Adams is leaving. So many other valuable players are gonna be leaving either way. It's a brutal thing to see. Such a great team being dismantled after a loss like this is just painful to see. If it does happen, Green Bay will go through hard times for the next 5 to 10 years.

And that is so hard because all the other Divisional Playoff games were amazing. Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes were just unbelievable in particular.

Also, in writing terms, my Pup Pup Boogie story that I have talked about last time is gonna be pushed back again. I hope it would be finished by late Februrary or early March. I'm writing a short story for Valentines' Day, just so you guys know :)

Anyways, that's all I really have for you guys. Other than the fact that it's dummy cold. -11 degrees in Wisconsin this morning. Take care, and be the light. -mitch

RIP to Gianna Bryant, John Altobelli, Keri Altobelli, Alyssa Altobelli, Christina Mauser, Sarah Chester, Payton Chester and Ara Zobayan. You will all be missed.